General: Perennial herb from a taproot and branching base; stems several to numerous, relatively sparsely hairy with coarse, stiff-spreading and (especially upward) short, appressed, straight hairs, 0.3-1 m tall.
Leaves: Basal leaves usually well-developed, persistent, oblanceolate or narrowly elliptic, stalked, 6-35 cm long and to 4 cm wide; stem leaves also well-developed, 5-20 cm long, 7-20 mm wide, the lower oblanceolate and stalked, the upper narrowly elliptic to oblong and unstalked, reduced upward, short appressed-hairy or coarsely stiff-hairy, entire, alternate.
Flowers: Inflorescence of several clusters with leafy bracts at the base, tending to be shorter, wider, and looser than that of H. floribunda; petals blue, fused at base into a short, narrow tube that spreads (5-11 mm wide) abruptly at top to 5 lobes, with 5 minutely pimply, yellow or whitish bulges.
Fruits: Nutlets 4, with marginal, barb-tipped prickles mostly distinct to the base, facial prickles several (usually 4-10), much shorter than marginal.
3. Nutlets with marginal prickles only.......................................H. floribunda
3. Nutlets with central (facial) prickles in addtion to marginal ones.
4. Marginal prickles united for at least 1/3 their length, forming a cup..........................H. ciliata
4. Marginal prickles mostly distinct to base, not forming a cup................................H. micrantha
Source: Illustrated Flora of British Columbia (Douglas et al.)
Habitat / Range
Dry to mesic rocky slopes, grasslands, shrublands and forest openings in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; frequent in C and S BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; E to AB and S to UT and CA.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
